Modern Dance Company to Take Big Space on Periphery of Kaufman Arts District

RIOULT Dance’s new location

Feb. 14, 2018, By Tara Law

A modern dance company and school is hosting a gala to help fund its move from Manhattan to Astoria.

RIOULT Dance NY will relocate to an 11,000 square foot space at 34-01 Steinway St. this summer. Ahead of the move, the company will host its 2018 winter gala “Centered on the Future” on Feb. 28, which will feature musical and dance performances, an auction, dinner and dancing.

RIOULT Dance NY was founded in 1994 by choreographer Pascal Rioult, a former principal dancer for the Martha Graham Dance Company. The RIOULT dance company tours nationally and internationally at theaters and festivals. The organization also provides dance education to dance professionals and students of all ages.

The company, which is currently located on 38th Street in Manhattan, signed a deal to move into the first two floors of the 6-story Steinway Street space being constructed, the Wall Street Journal reported in Jan. 2017. The center was originally scheduled to open last month.

The new space will offer five studios, which will be available to rent. The center will offer classes for students and professional dancers, as well as fitness classes for toddlers, children, teens and adults.

Community members will also have the opportunity to view music, dance, theater and other performances. The new space will include a performance area, with seating for more than 100 attendees.

“The opening of the RIOULT Dance Center will mark a pivotal milestone in RIOULT’s history, not only providing a permanent home for its professional company of dancers, but also offering the community a new world-class dance facility and school,” said a RIOULT spokesperson.

The new center will be a boon to the creative industry in Astoria.

The Kaufman Arts District

The building is located on the periphery of The Kaufman Arts District, which stretches from 31st Street to Steinway Street (btwn. 34th and 37th avenues). The district was formed in 2014 and is named after Kaufman Studios, which has operated in the neighborhood for 90 years.

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A 24-year-old Brooklyn man who crashed his car on the BQE in 2017 and left a 25-year-old Astoria woman inside his burning vehicle to die was sentenced yesterday to four to 12 years in prison, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.